When looking for a condominium, be aware that different buildings may have very different types ownership.

Freehold Units

Most condos are freehold strata units, where typically you have fee simple ownership of your unit. The land as well as common areas are owned collectively by all the owners. With most freehold condos, you pay monthly strata fees for upkeep.

Leasehold Units

Here you have a lease from a landlord for the right to use the unit for a specific number of years. Many leaseholds are created for 99 years, and you may only purchase your unit for the part of the lease that remains.

Co-op Units

With this arrangement you purchase shares in a co-operative association which owns the land and building including individual units and common areas, and you have a leasehold interest in your unit. You usually pay monthly dues to the co-op board to cover the building’s taxes and upkeep.

Condo buying tip

Monthly condo fees can affect how much home you can afford. By choosing a property where the monthly fees are just $200 lower, you can boost your purchasing power by $18,000.

Hans Anderson

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I’ve been talking a lot lately about the “Investors Flip Feast” going on right now. With an Investor’s Flip Feast you contract a great deal with a homeowner and then assign your contract to another investor for a quick finder’s fee. It’s a great way to get started in foreclosure investing without needing any of your own cash or credit.

Once you’ve mastered “assigning deals” to investors for quick paydays, you are ready to make some serious money in real estate by buying a property at a discount, fixing it up, and selling it on the retail market. This is also known as “rehabbing” or “retailing.” This is a great way to see the results of your work immediately and build wealth quickly. It works in any market, any time. And it is working especially well right now with all the great fixer foreclosure opportunities everywhere around us.

Our many foreclosures.com successful rehabber clients focus on fixing up “entry level” family properties and make $30,000-$60,000 or more on every deal. Doing two or three houses like this a year can provide great extra income for college and retirement expenses, while doing six or more deals a year can provide you with a great living and be your ticket to firing your boss.

Cosmetic vs. Structural Repairs

When looking for a great property to rehab, keep your eyes open for fixes that will make a big difference, but not necessarily cost a lot. Less really is better in the retailing business. Look for houses that need cosmetic changes such as:

· New paint

· New carpet

· New fixtures

· New landscaping

· Minor clear termite repairs

Until you become an expert at rehabbing, avoid properties with structural problems such as foundation issues or severe dry rot. Major rehabs can be extremely profitable, but you must refine your job-costing skills first or you can get stuck in a money pit.

Buy It Right and Everything Else Falls in Place

It’s often said that real estate investors make their money when they buy, not when they sell. This simply means that when you get in for the right price, you are guaranteed to profit when you get out.

So what is a good deal? You want to have at least a 30% margin PLUS repairs to ensure that you make enough profit. For example, if a house in perfect condition will be worth $200,000 fixed up, you must get it for $140,000 LESS the cost of repairs. If repairs are minimal and only $20,000 then you need to buy it for $120,000. In this scenario, when including repairs, you are actually buying the house at 40% off.

Out of that 30% margin, 15% goes to buying, holding, and selling expenses and 15% goes to your profit. In the same example, your 15% profit on a $200,000 retailed house will net you $30,000. The higher the resale, the more money you make. If the house is smaller than $200,000, I pencil in a minimum of $30,000 flat (rather than 15% percent) to make sure I get my minimum payday for my time, effort, and risk.

Also remember that the bigger the repairs, the bigger the discount (I’ve been known to buy at more than 50% discount on bigger projects). Remember, you’re dealing with motivated sellers–typically fixer uppers–which means the houses you buy will NEVER be in perfect condition.

Make Sure You Get it Right

To make every deal as profitable as possible, you must prepare in advance and estimate all your costs properly. The biggest risks in rehabbing property are:

While you can make a great deal of money in rehabbing, it can be frustrating and time-consuming if you don’t do it right. On the other hand, you don’t have to deal with tenants, you can see the progress being made every day, and you’re updating housing and improving a neighborhood. It’s rewarding to drive by houses you’ve bought, rehabbed, and sold. And your new neighbors love you.

If rehabbing houses interests you, try doing one or two while maintaining your current job. If you enjoy it, and it makes you enough money, perhaps you might try going full time as an investor. Fixing up houses for new buyers is one of the most satisfying things you can do in real estate, and the most profitable.

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Hans Anderson

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Whether you live in the tiniest of bungalows you built with your
own hands from cottage plans downloaded from the Internet, or you used luxury home plans to create a 36,000-square-foot behemoth castle built in the Hamptons, there are times when you’ll need to have something professionally inspected.

I’m writing to help you decide which of these tasks require a
professional inspection, and which don’t.

Pro inspectors are an absolute requirement when you’re purchasing a home that’s already built; the lender almost always requires an inspection.

Not only will you need a structural inspection, but if
you live in a house with a slab foundation, you’ll need a
foundation check too. These aren’t cases where you can grab your
ladders and go to work; you’ll need to hire a professional
inspector, and possibly an engineer.

These guys are a dime-a-dozen in terms of abundance, so choosing the right one may be difficult. The inspection itself may cost anywhere from $125-300. Once you’ve hired an inspector, be sure to listen to what he says; he’s a trained professional who will
examine every functional system in your house, and he knows what
he’s doing.

I can recall one particular occasion when I located a property
from my pre-foreclosure listings that seemed like a steal!

The financially distressed seller was in desperate need to get rid
of the property and was only asking for a fraction of the actual
market value. I made my offer and was really enthusiastic about
everything UNTIL the professional home inspection revealed some
serious structural issues that soured the deal and would ultimately
cost me more than I could’ve managed.

That is an example of when a professional’s expertise can be a life
saver! Many homeowners have gone ahead and purchased a house they’d invested time and money in, despite the inspector’s report of foundation problems or a substandard furnace; only to regret it later.

A home inspection may be required to satisfy your building permit
requirements after adding on that extra room. You may need an
inspection to ensure that the gas furnace isn’t so old that it has
copper tubing (a real no-no these days). Or maybe you just want to check the foundation or to see how your roof is faring?

If you’re like me, you have a desire to do things yourself. It
goes without saying that some circumstances simply demand
professional inspection. Your new storage shed plans may not
require it (unless you’re really fastidious), but your new house
plans will once everything’s up and ready.

However, there are some inspection jobs that, although you can hire a pro to do them, you can also handle yourself. While you may not be a professional inspector, you’ve probably got a smidgen of common sense and can tell when something’s wrong with a major structural element of your home.

Let’s say you want to check out how your roof’s doing. All
you need is a good ladder and good eyes. Your eyes are up to you,
but this writer recommends you purchase a Little Giant Ladder
system, if you don’t already have one.

You can also get a Little Giant Work Platform, a ladder attachment
that you can stand directly on rather than risk life and limb by
craning around while perched on a slender rung. As long as you weigh less than 300 pounds, you’re perfectly safe. At the risk of sounding like an ad for their products, Little Giants ladders are the best built, most versatile, and sturdiest ladders available.

Anyway: when you climb up to the roof, look for missing or deformed shingles, buckling, algal growth, blisters, or corroded flashing; all these can be signs of a failing roof. While you’re up there, take a look at your home’s soffit and fascia, the structure
enclosing the eaves.

In the best-case scenario your soffit-and-fascia structure should
be stuffed with insulation, but often it’s hollow — the perfect
space for squirrels and opossums to prowl around in. Because this
structure is often made of flimsy “hardboard,” it can be easy for
unwanted pests to chew or scratch their way into.

Similarly, you don’t need a professional to tell you when your
brickwork is sub par; you should be able to see the cracks, if
there are any, even from a distance. Small cracks in the mortar
between bricks are most common, and may indicate ordinary expansion and contraction of the construction materials. Larger cracks and cracks through bricks are more significant warning signs, often indicating foundation problems.

While it’s good to monitor things around your home by periodically
looking for problems, it’s important that you don’t hesitate to
contact a professional when your eyes tell you there is a potential
problem. You want a professional to look at everything and advise
you on what action to take before it’s too late.

To Your Success!

Aiden Win

Mr. Foreclosure
Canada’s Largest Database Goldmine Of Pre-Foreclosure Real Estate For Up To 50% Below Market!

ForeclosuresTaxSales.com

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Many states in the country desire to increase the number of bidders for the tax liens by offering incentives. These incentives are likely to be almost 5% of minimum return for the investor in these properties in tax foreclosures, upon the redemption of the liens. The effort to lure investors in this way convinces many of them to go for these highly profitable deals. There are some drawbacks in tax foreclosures investments that an investor should be aware of, before getting into this kind of investment, which includes: continue reading>>.

Hans Anderson

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I don’t plan to be breaking wooden boards with my head but one
thing I did learn from him is this…

He explained the main philosophy behind his “discipline” was to
understand any particular situation and to know the outcome that
you want BEFORE you enter it.

That got me thinking.

Because what’s true in kung fu fighting is also true in making
money in foreclosures. Your success is greatly affected by how well you know the (seller’s) situation.

Let me explain:

A student of mine was complaining to me after approaching a couple of sellers who blew him off. He basically just knocked on their doors and said, you’re so and so right? Wanna sell your house?

I got to give it to him for taking the step in the right direction,
but I explained to him how he could position himself a lot better
by solving the seller’s problems rather than just some random guy
who wants to make money from the seller.

I said, “You’re getting all detailed info on each foreclosure, you
know exactly what situation the seller is in, why don’t you use it?”

You probably heard it already…

INFORMATION IS POWER!

You see, the professional preforeclosure listings include all the
critical info you need to assess the seller’s problems.

You’ll find the following entries:

1. Full legal names of those involved in the foreclosure proceedings
- You can call them by their name and make a personal approach.

2. Address of property

- No more random searching and chasing after time wasters

3. Address of owner

- The owner may not live at the property

4. Legal description of the property

- Verify the accuracy of the property information.

5. Name of the lender

- By knowing which lender, you will know what terms the seller’s
currently have with their mortgages and then negotiate accordingly.

6. Name and contact information of lawyer representing the lender

- If you can’t contact the seller, you can contact the lawyer who
is handling the property.

7. Current amount owing

- You know the exact amount of equity left in the property, which
gives you a reference point when negotiating with the seller.

8. Date of Purchase

- You know when they purchased the property and therefore the
market prices at the time they purchased – another reference point when negotiating with the seller.

9. Original mortgage amount

- You get an idea of how much the owner put for down payment and how much equity is in the property.

10. Date mortgage went into default

-You know how desperate they are to sell.

11. Current interest rate

- How desirable the loan interest rate is.

12. Current payment amount

- How affordable the seller’s payments are.

13. Original mortgage date

- Indicates how long they have made payments the property.

14. Payment frequency

- How often they make payments on their mortgage.

15. Maturity date
- When the mortgage gets paid off.

With all these little bits of information, you can now piece
together a picture and gain a full understanding of the seller’s
situation. This allows you plan a solution/outcome that’s
beneficial to you and to the seller. By knowing exactly what you
want, you are already half way there!

So now, instead of being some person who wants to make a quick buck from the seller’s problems, you can position yourself as a “problem solver”. The seller will appreciate that you’ve taken the time to understand his/her situation.

And now you can work together to customize a solution!

How valuable is this information? It has allowed my members and I
to save and make millions in real estate.

To Your Success!

Aiden Win

Mr. Foreclosure

P.S. Get the best of deals available for Price, Terms, Urgency,
Information from our database goldmine of the latest pre-foreclosure listings

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Hi,

Here is a question I get asked a lot. “Now that I have the
Foreclosure lists, how do I contact the sellers?”

You can attempt contacting the sellers in several ways. One way is
to physically go to their address and knock on their door. This is
very direct, and may show that you are a serious investor. However, this is very time consuming. Also, if you don’t know the seller’s situation, you might be wasting your time. So unless the property is not far from where you live or work, I wouldn’t recommend this method.

Another method is to call them on the phone. You can see if the
seller’s phone number is listed in the telephone directories by
searching for it by address. This doesn’t take much time at all,
and with practice, may be very effective. It helps to have some
kind of phone script that you can start using and refine to suit
your own style.

More on this later.

If you cannot find the seller’s phone number, you can try calling
the lawyer who is handling the pre-foreclosure. Depending on the
law firm, the lawyer, the secretary answering the phone, and how
polite or how skilled you are, you may be able to get the seller’s
phone number from them. Sometimes they will give it to you,
sometimes they will not. If they don’t, you can usually leave your
number with them and ask them to forward it to the seller -
indicating that you are a very interested buyer.

A method that I personally use and have found to be extremely
effective is to send a letter or a series of letters to the seller.
This method is powerful because the seller will have something
tangible in their hands.

Usually, they will keep the letter, perhaps show it to their spouse, or leave it on their kitchen table – thus constantly reminding them
that there is a buyer for their house when the time is right…you.

With the right wording and approach in your letter, you will compel
the seller to call you. And sometimes they have already made up
their mind to sell to you because they have had the time to think
it over with their spouse. By being in the “top of their minds”,
you will have a tremendous advantage.

The bottom line is, you never know what the seller’s situation is.
But if you are persistent in your efforts, it’s only a matter of
time before you find a foreclosure that will make you a handsome
profit. With each foreclosure that you look at, you will improve
your skill in making a deal happen. And it doesn’t take more than 1
or 2 successful deals to be making a healthy income!

Over the years, I have used letters, phone scripts, and other tools
that I have refined to become very effective for contacting
sellers.

And get this, I didn’t have to chase anyone, I would have sellers call me constantly to sell me their homes because my letters worked so well.

They have worked for me, so I recommend them to you.

The Lazy Man’s Way To Generate Cash From Foreclosures That Will Make You Rich!

ForeclosuresTaxSales.com

Hans Anderson

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